Heavy rainfall causes flooding, car crashes in metro-east

Continuous heavy rainfall floods roads in Southern Illinois

A truck attempts to drive through a flooded Emerald Mound Road on Tuesday in Lebanon after heavy rainfall closed roads and caused car crashes as a flood watch continued Tuesday.

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A truck attempts to drive through a flooded Emerald Mound Road on Tuesday in Lebanon after heavy rainfall closed roads and caused car crashes as a flood watch continued Tuesday.

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Heavy rainfall on Tuesday closed roads and caused crashes as a flood watch continued through the day.

In Mascoutah, water on the roadway caused a three-car accident on Illinois 161 about 6:11 a.m. There were no injures in the accident but one car was towed, Sgt. Matt Steinkamp said.

Water was covering the roadway for about an eighth of a mile at Illinois 4 between the railroad tracks and Mid-America Airport at the time of the crash. By about 10 a.m., the water had subsided, Steinkamp said.

Illinois State Police handled another accident on Illinois 177 just east of town. According to Southern Illinois Fire Incidents, the car crashed due to flooded roadways near White Top Inn on Mine Road. Information on injuries was not immediately available.

The Mascoutah Fire Department posted on its Facebook, warning people not to drive through water on the road, saying "It is never safe to drive or walk into flood waters."

"A mere 6 inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It takes just 12 inches of rushing water to carry away a small car, while 2 feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles," it read.

Near Breese, multiple departments responded to a car submerged in water, according to Southern Illinois Fire Incidents.

USE EXTREME CAUTION MUTIPLE DEPARTMENTS ENROUTE TO VEHICLE IN WATER IN CLINTON COUNTY

At about 8 a.m., Breese police said they were dealing with the submerged car and multiple other crashes due to flooding on the roads, although there were no known injuries.

Breese Elementary School District 12 posted on Facebook that there may be delays in children getting picked up for school on buses due to flooding.

"Due to flooding in some area buses will not be able to pass through some areas preventing up from picking your child up. They also may be running late since they have to take alternate routes to avoid flooding," the post read.

The flood watch was expected to continue until 7 p.m. and rain was predicted on and off through the rest of the week.

Heavy rain and potential for flooding continues today and a Flood Watch remains in effect through this afternoon. There will be a chance of rain across portions of the area off and on through the week.

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